A Southampton man pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of a fatal crash in March 2024 which he failed to report.
On March 6, 2024 at approximately 5 p.m., Benjamin Sheen-Waltzer struck Angel Asitimbay with his 2024 GMC pickup truck. Asitimbay, 67, of Hampton Bays, had been walking on a residential roadway while pushing a shopping cart filled with glass bottles and cans. Sheen-Waltzer was traveling just south of Neptune Avenue on Springville Road when he struck Asitimbay from behind.
Asitimbay was thrown forward, with his body finally coming to rest on the shoulder of the southbound lane. The crash also caused a large number of glass bottles and cans to be scattered along the road.
Asitimbay was transported to Peconic Bay Medical Center and pronounced deceased shortly after he arrived. After the crash, Sheen-Waltzer fled from the scene.
Among the debris collected at the scene was an “M” that was part of the GMC emblem. This coincided with video surveillance at Hampton Watercraft & Marine on Springville Road that captured the defendant’s vehicle with front-end damage, including the missing “M.”
Southampton Police ultimately tracked Sheen-Waltzer’s truck to his residence and found it with the “GMC” front emblem missing. Police later located the “G” and “C” parts of the purported emblem at the defendant’s place of employment inside a different vehicle allegedly registered to Sheen-Waltzer. A search warrant on the GPS device of the truck revealed data consistent with the defendant’s path of travel leading up to and following the deadly hit-and-run crash.
On September 16, 2026, Sheen-Waltzer, 34, pleaded guilty to Leaving the Scene of an Incident Without Reporting, a Class D felony, before Acting Supreme Court Justice Anthony S. Senft, Jr.
“This defendant cared more about evading responsibility for his criminal actions than rendering aid to the man he struck,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney. “Mr. Asitimbay was left to die on the side of a road with no possible life-saving aid rendered to him. We will continue to hold individuals like this defendant accountable for fatal hit-and-runs.”
Sheen-Waltzer is due back in court on November 16, 2026.